Neoadjunct chemo results

tousled1 · 03-10-2006, 05:48 PM

I was diagnosed Stage III her+, axillary node +, ER/PR - late Oct 2005. Large high nuclear grade tumor. Bone scan, CT scan good. Started chemo Dec 2005 and had 4 treatments A/C. After the 4 A/C treatments ultrasound shows a decrease in tumor size. Now will have 4 rounds of taxatore. My oncologist said that in clinical trials there were very good results with 4 rounds of A/C followed by 4 rounds of taxatore. Don't know if anyone else has had chemo before surgery or not but wanted to share my experience so far.

Becky · 03-10-2006, 06:17 PM

Are you starting Herceptin with the Taxotere? Just wondering. I had all my chemo after surgery but my tumor was not that large (1.9 cm).

Best regards

Becky

madubois63 · 03-10-2006, 06:55 PM

I had 4 rounds of A/C then 4 rounds of Taxol. Since I have Inflammatory BC, the chemo was done first in order to shrink the very large mass. I had a great response and the mass shrank to nearly nothing by the time I had surgery. Just think, your more than half way through this!! The Taxenes are much easier than the A/C. Your hair will be growing back soon too. Keep kicking cancer butt...

tousled1 · 03-11-2006, 06:24 AM

Becki,

I am not having herceptin with the taxatore. After surgery I will get the herceptin every 3 weeks. I asked the oncologist about that and she said that the clinical trial that was so successful did not include the herceptin.

03-11-2006, 01:21 PM

You may have heard your oncologist incorrectly. It was the combination of Herceptin and Taxotere (or taxol) that produced the most dramatic results. A whopping 50% drop in recurrence rates! The one year of Herceptin maintenance is helpful (about 10% reduction), but nowhere near the 50% of the combination. Ask your oncologist again, and if you get the same answer get a second opinion. You have a high risk breast cancer and need to take charge of your own care, even if it means switching oncologists midstream.

sassy · 03-11-2006, 04:58 PM

Please do check again to make sure you will receive Herceptin with a taxane--best results from trial were herceptin with taxol or taxotere.

Sassy
________
Glass Bongs

tousled1 · 03-11-2006, 05:02 PM

I will check with my oncologist Wednesday. I may have misunderstood her. It seems that sometimes we have "selective hearing." We only want to hear the good things and not anything negative.

PatS · 03-11-2006, 07:32 PM

I was diag. stage 3 in July 2002 and had neoadjuvant chemo before surgery. I also had 4 A/C followed by 4 taxotere (each 3 weeks apart). My tumor was originally approx. 6-7 cm and when I had my mast. it had shrunk to 1cm and all 7 nodes taken were negative (don't know if any were positive before chemo or not). Good luck with your treatments. I found taxotere much easier than A/C.
Pat

tousled1 · 03-12-2006, 05:53 AM

Pat,

My axillary nodes are positive and when I saw the surgeon 2 weeks ago the nodes still did not look good although the tumor was a bit smaller. I'm hopeful that after my 4 treatments of taxatore that the nodes will also improve. I'm still not sure if I will opt for a lumpectomy or masectomy. It's a very hard decision to make. Right now I'm leaning toward a masectomy or possibly a double masectomy as I really don't want to have to go through this again. I know that even with the masectomy there is no guarantee but there is a family history of breast cancer and I want to do everything I possibly can to beat this disease.

PatS · 03-12-2006, 11:25 AM

Hi Kate -

The taxatere is what really did the job on my tumor so hopefully it'll work well for you too. I also had a lot of DCIS so a mastectomy was really my only option but I really preferred the mast. anyway. I wanted to do all I could too and figured I'd have enough to worry about without worrying about a recurrence in that breast. Let us know how you're doing.

Pat

tousled1 · 03-12-2006, 06:59 PM

Pat,

Thanks for your input. Your experience is like mine and hopefully my treatment with Taxatore will have the same result that you did. I am leaning toward a masectomy especially since my axillary nodes are positive but the doctor says that a lumpectomy followed by radiation and then herceptin would be just as effective. My major concern with a lumpectomy is that they won't be able to get clear margins. Just the thought of going through additional surgery scares me.